Saturday, 25 July 2015

UK Blog Tour: Redemption Road by Lisa Ballantyne!

Publication date: 16th July 2015Paperback edition: 448 pagesSource: KindleRating: 4 starsSynopsis: The crash is the unravelling of Margaret Holloway. Trapped inside a car about to explode, she is rescued by a scarred stranger who then disappears. Margaret remembers little, but she's spent her life remembering little - her childhood is full of holes and forgotten memories. And now she has a burning desire to discover who she is, why her life has been shrouded in secrets, and if it has anything to do with the mysterious man who saved her life.

In a thriller that flits effortlessly between past and present, this is a harsh, gritty yet ultimately uplifting journey of an estranged father and daughter, exploring the strength of family ties and our huge capacity for forgiveness.

I'll be honest and say that I hadn't heard of this author until I received a surprise package from Little, Brown Book Group with this book in it! This book isn't my typical genre of book, but I was then asked to be on the UK Blog Tour and I said yes to a review! I probably wouldn't have read this book if I hadn't been sent it by the publisher, but I'm really glad I was! It's always good to step outside your comfort zone every once in a while and I certainly did with this book! This author also lives like an hour away from where I do, which I find insanely cool lol! I'm really happy I was sent this book! I enjoyed it a lot more than I was expecting too and I actually had a hard time putting it down because the plot had a lot in it! I'll admit that I was a little confused at the start with the different point of views, but I was quickly able to understand everything and see how everything connected! The plot was also developed at a really nice pace! I thought that it would take me a while to get through it, but it didn't! I really enjoyed It! The characters were also very diverse and made the plot for me! I would say that Margaret was the main character in this book, even though it was written from a few different point of views! I really liked Margaret! She was a strong-willed character that stuck her ground when she had an opinion and she stood up for what she believed in! She was also easy to connect with and she had a loving family that supported her! Margaret went through a lot in this book though, and she discovered a lot about her childhood and her life that she didn't know about! This made me feel sorry for her because she was kept in the dark! As I said, this book was written from a few different point of views, which confused me a little to start off with because I wasn't sure who the other characters were and how everything connected, but it started to come together quickly and I was able to see how a lot of it connected and how all three characters were entwined and how they all met and were involved with the plot! There were still some connections that gradually came out as the book progressed though! I did enjoy the different point of views as they added a lot to the plot's development and it was kinda cool how everything came together! I also normally don't like reading books from more than two different point of views, but this book was written from about four lol! I can completely understand why this book is a standalone! Everything was wrapped up and it all connected by the end! I also know that this author has another book out that's been highly praised, so I'm definitely going to be checking that one out and seeing if it's my kind of thing! The cover for this book is so pretty and suits the book really well! I've seen several covers floating around for it, and I'm actually a big fan of all the covers I've seen! The cover below is the front cover of the paperback I received and I love it! Big thank you to Piatkus for an early review copy of Redemption Road and for having me on the UK Blog Tour!

Lisa Ballantyne was born in Armadale, West Lothian, Scotland, and was educated at the University of St Andrews. She spent most of her twenties working and living in China, before returning to the UK in 2002, to work in Higher Education. In 2014, she was the recipient of the prestigious Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. Lisa he lives in Glasgow, and this is her second novel.